Trend Results : Current Biology

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The use of terahertz (THz) waves for biosensing is currently receiving considerable attention. THz waves are able to detect molecular vibrations and rotations, without using labels that can affect the properties of the substances of interest.

Researchers who've gotten the first look at a deep-sea "dumbo" octopod hatchling report in Current Biology on February 19 that the young octopods look and act much like adults from the moment they emerge from an egg capsule. Dumbo octopods are so named because their fins resemble Dumbo the elephant's ears.

Over a 16-year period, about half of the orangutans living on the island of Borneo were lost as a result of changes in land cover. That's according to estimates reported in Current Biology on February 15 showing that more than 100,000 of the island's orangutans disappeared between 1999 and 2015.

Praying mantises see the world in three dimensions in a way that's completely different from how vertebrates (including birds, humans and other mammals) do, according to a new paper in Current Biology. Also, studying this required putting tiny glasses on mantises.
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(University of Birmingham) A series of four studies have shed new light on the properties of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, currently our most optimal hope for evidence of biological life beyond the solar system.

The biological complexity of cancer and other diseases demands a more formidable arsenal of therapies than currently available. Most therapeutic approaches ignore the dynamic molecular network of genes, targeting instead only very few selected disease-related genes.

(Tufts University) A team of chemical and biological engineers from Tufts University has developed highly selective membrane filters that could enable manufacturers to separate and purify chemicals in ways that are currently impossible, allowing them to potentially use less energy and cut carbon emissions, according to findings published in print today in the journal ACS Nano.

Josh Gabbatiss reports for The Independent on a study, “Hunter-Gatherer Olfaction Is Special” by Asifa Majid and Nicole Kruspe in Current Biology, in which (to quote the subhead) “Scientists use languages of indigenous groups to understand their sensory perception of the world”: Hunter-gatherers who live off the land in the forests of Malaysia are far […]

When people are awake, their pupils regularly change in size. Those changes are meaningful, reflecting shifting attention or vigilance, for example. Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology on January 18 have found in studies of mice that pupil size also fluctuates during sleep. They also show that pupil size is a reliable indicator of sleep states.

(Cell Press) In murder investigations, DNA evidence often helps to link a perpetrator to a crime scene and put him or her behind bars. Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology on Jan. 8 show that DNA evidence is also successfully...Show More Summary

An article in Current Biology by Christopher Krupenye and Brian Hare suggests that bonobos may have a social preference for individuals who wear their dominance on their sleeve: “Bonobos Prefer Individuals that Hinder Others over Those...Show More Summary

(Cell Press) To measure a person's sleep, researchers have relied on costly and time-consuming approaches that could only be used in a sleep lab. But now researchers reporting in Current Biology have found a way to capture detailed information on human sleep cycles over long periods of time while individuals slumber at home. Show More Summary

The current standard treatments for cancer, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, are quite unpleasant and harmful; no-one would voluntarily undergo them given a better alternative. In fact, treatment makes people physically older, accelerating the processes of aging. Show More Summary

Ocean acidification (OA) is an emerging consequence of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. The full extent of the biological impacts are currently not well understood. However, it is expected that invertebrate species that rely on the mineral calcium carbonate will be among the first and most severely affected. Despite the limited understanding of impacts there is […]

Imaging at the nanoscale is important to a plethora of modern applications in materials science, physics, biology, medicine and other fields. Limitations of current techniques are, e.g. their resolution, imaging speed or the inability to look behind opaque objects with arbitrary shapes.

Worldwide, there are currently just 12 known Archaeopteryx fossils – but researchers believe one might in fact be a new species: Ostromia crassipes A paper published earlier this week in BMC Evolutionary biology suggests that one ofShow More Summary

Researchers studying wild dwarf mongooses have provided insight into what happens when immigrants join a new group. The study in Current Biology on December 4 shows that, initially, recent immigrants rarely serve as lookout, which means they provide little information to help the rest of the group. Show More Summary

(University College London) In stressed newborn babies, behavior alone is not a reliable way of assessing pain, according to new UCL and UCLH research.The study, published today in Current Biology and funded by the Medical Research Council...Show More Summary

(University of Miami) In a counter-response recently published in the journal Developmental Science, Elizabeth Simpson and her co-authors argue that the Current Biology study failed to use appropriate methods, and is highly flawed. She argues that there is overwhelming evidence that infant imitation is real.

Coastal margins could be hotspots for acidification due to terrestrial-influenced CO2 sources. Currently there are no long-term (>20 years) records from biologically important coastal environments that could demonstrate sea surface CO2 fugacity (fCO2) and pH trends. Show More Summary